Healthier Living Workshops Offered in Putney Starting Feb. 22

Healthier Living Workshops Offered in Putney Starting Feb. 22

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is offering the free Healthier Living Workshop series for managing chronic conditions at Putney Meadows starting Wednesday, February 22.

Stanford University developed the six-week program to empower individuals with chronic diseases and their caregivers to better manage the condition through education, support and skill-building exercises. Classes meet each Wednesday through March 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon in Putney Meadows conference room. Putney Meadows is located at 17 Carol Brown Way in Putney, Vermont.

The workshops are co-facilitated. Both leaders have been trained in a four-day program by Stanford-certified master trainers, and will cover fun and practical techniques for dealing with frustration, fatigue, pain and isolation, breathing techniques and guided imagery to reduce stress, exercises for improving and maintaining strength, flexibility and endurance, appropriate use of medications, nutrition, and more.

Advance registration is available now by contacting Wendy Cornwell or Jessie Casella at 251-8459, or by emailing wcornwell@bmhvt.org. At least 10 participants are needed to run the series.

Healthier Living Workshops are the product of a 5-year research project conducted at Stanford University involving over 1,000 participants living with chronic conditions. The program is widely implemented both nationally and internationally. Participants who have completed the program consistently report lower utilization of health services and improved quality-of-life.

Fifty-one percent of Vermonters over 18 years of age are living with a chronic condition and 88 percent of people over 65 have at least two conditions. Chronic conditions are the primary reason people receive health care. Unlike injury or acute health care problems, chronic conditions must be managed at home, outside of the doctor’s office or hospital. Individuals with chronic conditions must become their own primary health care managers.